300 lashes, 6 years prison, over Saudi woman's conversion

Riyadh
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A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a Lebanese man who helped a Saudi woman to flee the country and convert to Christianity, to six years in prison and 300 lashes.

The case of the "the girl of Khobar" was headline news across Saudi Arabia when an unnamed Saudi woman fled the Kingdom with the help of two co-workers, a Saudi and Lebanese man. She turned her back on Islam, converting to Christianity, committing the crime of apostasy under Saudi sharia law.

The Saudi Gazette reported the woman was granted asylum in Sweden. One report indicated she was provided with accommodation by a priest in Lebanon after fleeing Saudi Arabia en-route to Europe. The two men who helped to facilitate her escape with the help of forged travel documents were arrested in Saudi Arabia. It is illegal in Saudi Arabia for a woman to travel abroad without the consent of a male guardian. The signature of the woman's father had been forged on a travel permit, resulting in the arrest of a government passport officer.

According to the Gulf News the Lebanese man who helped the Saudi woman to escape has been sentenced to six years in prison and 300 lashes. The Saudi man received a lesser sentence of two years in prison and 200 lashes. Both men intend to appeal their sentences.